LAHORE, April 5: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has urged Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao to urgently look into the matter of detention of Afghan refugees and denial of legal aid to them. According to a press release issued here on Tuesday, the body has urged the interior minister to intervene into the matter through a letter sent to him. According to the press release, the HRCP has learnt that about 2,500 refugees had recently been arrested in Rawalpindi, under the Foreigner?s Act, and were being held in Adiala Jail in appalling conditions.

The detained refugees were reportedly being denied access to legal aid unless they paid huge bribe to police. Police was also demanding huge sums from the refugees to avoid arrest, it said.

The HRCP said the refugees living in Islamabad were also facing harassment at the hands of the Capital Development Authority which had demolished some of their homes. A delegation of refugees, who brought the matter to the notice of the HRCP, sought urgent official intervention in the matter.

It requested the interior minister that given the government?s commitment to uphold the rights of refugees he must look urgently into the matter.

The HRCP demanded a meeting between the interior minister, its Council Member Afrasiab Khattak, UNHCR representatives and SAFRON officials, and demanded permission for a fact-finding mission to visit the refugees at Adiala.

The body also pointed out in its letter that the arrests violated the spirit of the tripartite agreement between Afghanistan, Pakistan and UNHCR reached on Feb 2, 2005, and inflicted immense sufferings on the refugees and their families.